Imperial Oil of North Dakota, Inc. v. Industrial Commission

Interest on debt for drilling and operating an oil well can be a “reasonable actual cost” for the Industrial Commission to allocate to fractional operating interests which are involuntarily pooled under N.D.C.C. § 38-08-08. Therefore, I respectfully dissent.

In regulating oil and gas development, the North Dakota Industrial Commission must pool “all interests in the spacing unit for the development and operations [of a well] ... [i]n the absence of voluntary pooling, ...” N.D.C.C. § 38-08-08. The order “shall be upon terms and conditions that are just and reasonable,” affording each interest…